Steerable composite right–left‐hand‐based printed antenna circuitry for 5G applications

Abstract

AbstractIn this article, the proposed antenna structure is designed for modern wireless communication systems. The antenna structure is consistent with 11‐unit cells of composite right–left‐hand (CRLH) inclusions mounted on an FR4 substrate. Therefore, the antenna size is miniaturized effectively to 30 × 20 mm2 to cover the frequency bands around 2.45 GHz, for Wi‐Fi, and 4.2–6 GHz, for sub‐6 5G, networks. The design process is conducted on a circuit model and numerical simulations by evaluating the unit cell transmission phase spectra. For this, a comparison between the circuit model and the numerical simulations is invoked for validation. Such an antenna is found to provide a maximum gain of 6.2 dBi at 4.6 GHz. Next, 11 PIN diodes control the current motion between the antenna patch and the CRLH array. Therefore, PIN arrays are connected to the patch and the ground plane to maintain the surface current motion that realizes main lobe beam steering. The proposed antenna performance is simulated numerically using the CSTMWS software package. Then, it is fabricated and tested experimentally for validation. An excellent agreement is achieved between the simulated and measured results. Finally, it is found this antenna provides excellent beam steering −92° to 92° to suit many modern networks.